NTL Record

Title Local and Rural Road Safety Briefing Sheets - Applying the Systemic Safety Approach on Local Roads
Record ID 74397
Corporate Creator United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Safety
Publisher United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Safety
Publication Date 20140801
Language English
Abstract Local and rural road owners rely upon crash data to identify and treat safety problems. The traditional "spot location" approach is focused on treating a specific location based on crash history. The "systemic approach" acknowledges that crash frequency or rates at specific locations alone are not always sufficient to determine which countermeasures to implement and where to implement them. This is often true on low-volume local and rural roadways where crash frequencies are lower and crash data are sometimes sparse or incomplete. Systemic implementation of safety countermeasures helps to address the most serious crash types on the entire road system, not just at specific high-crash spot locations. The systemic safety approach is a two-pronged effort to reduce crashes and serious injuries on the roadways. This approach offers a means to: (1) identify crash types (e.g. intersection, roadway departure, pedestrians) and the location-related factors that contribute to the highest number of fatal and serious injury crashes of each type, and (2) widely implement low-cost countermeasures over several locations with similar crash characteristics and/or similar roadway features. Typically, systemic safety improvements are low-cost, require little maintenance, have documented crash reductions, and address specific crash types or crash risk factors (e.g., narrow shoulders).
Rosap ID dot:49362
Rosap URL https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/49362
TRT Terms Local transportation; Rural highways; Rural transportation; Transportation safety
Geographical
Coverage
United States
Report Number FHWA-SA-14-081
Resource type Brief
URL https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/74000/74300/74397/FHWA-SA-14-081.pdf
Format PDF
Database NTL Digital Repository